Canada to allow stem-cell research on embryos

By Randall Palmer

OTTAWA, March 4 (Reuters) - Canada will tread a middle path between the more
restrictive approach of the United States and the liberal laws of Britain
with new rules unveiled on Monday to govern the use of stem cells in medical
research.

Under the proposed regulations, drafted by the federally funded Canadian
Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), the country's premier health research
agency, Canadian scientists will be allowed public funding to conduct
research using stem cells from embryos and aborted fetuses, but will not be
allowed to conduct human cloning.

"The weight of the scientific evidence is that embryonic stem cells at the
moment at least, from what we know, hold the greatest promise and potential,"
CIHR president Alan Bernstein said.

The rules ban federal funding for research leading to cloning or research
that involves the creation of embryos just for scientific study. But they
would allow embryos left over from fertility clinics to be used for stem-cell
research.

Stem cells have the ability to transform themselves into many other types of
cells, offering the potential of regenerating damaged organs or tissue.

Many scientists believe stem cells offer hope for treating brain maladies
such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, as well as diabetes, cancer,
heart attacks and spinal injuries.

But many policymakers advocate the use of stem cells taken from adults, so as
to avoid the kind of divisive controversy that surrounds the use of cells
from embryos.

In August, U.S. President George W. Bush allowed federally funded research on
embryonic stem cells but only on cells from embryos that have already been
destroyed.

In Britain, the government has allowed both the creation and cloning of
embryos for stem-cell research.

Canada's House of Commons health committee said in December research using
embryos should be done only as a last resort. But the regulations issued on
Monday make no such distinction, allowing embryonic research as a matter of
course.

"The committee was not persuaded by the perspective that (an embryo) is a
human being with an inalienable right to life," Francoise Baylis, a member of
the committee that came up with the regulations, told a news conference.

The official opposition in Parliament, the right-wing Canadian Alliance,
voiced outrage that these regulations were being determined before Liberal
Health Minister Anne McLellan puts forward legislation governing not just
publicly funded research but human-reproduction questions overall.

"Today's announcement by the CIHR circumvents the parliamentary process," the
Alliance's Rob Merrifield said.

"It's the slipperiest thing I've ever seen as far as bringing forward
legislation (is concerned). I think Anne McLellan sent the research
scientists out to do her dirty work."

McLellan told reporters the legislation, which she plans to introduce by May
10, would largely mirror the new regulations.

"It would be fair to say that at least much of that which you find in the
guidelines will in some fashion be reflected in legislation ultimately passed
by this government," she said.

However, an early government draft of the bill did not deal with research on
cells from fetuses, now allowed under the CIHR rules.

Maureen McTeer, a lawyer who has written a book on ethical issues such as
embryonic research, said embryos should be protected, just as a severely
handicapped child is protected from being killed to harvest his or her
organs.

"We do that for a purpose because ... we believe that human life is important
and that it has to be protected, and that the vulnerable among us need to be
protected," said McTeer, the wife of Conservative Party leader Joe Clark.

"Embryonic life deliberately created in the lab is valuable as human life. It
doesn't have to be a person with legal rights in order for us to know that it
is vulnerable and in need of some protection."

Four big medical charities, including the Canadian Cancer Society and the
Muscular Dystrophy Association, registered support for the regulations and
for embryonic research.

The Canadian Cancer Society said human embryonic stem cells may be more
effective, for example, in restoring the immune systems of patients
undergoing bone-marrow transplantation.

(Additional reporting by David Ljunggren)

15:38 03-04-02
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